Should I Tell My Boss About My Side Hustle?

#TeamSideHustle; #TeamMultipleStreamsOfIncome

According to data from Bankrate, more than 1 in 4 Millennials work a side hustle.

61 percent of Millennials working a side hustle are at it once week or more

96 percent are at their side hustle at least once a month

25 percent say their side hustle earns them $500 a month or more

I guess you can say we believe in the beauty of having multiple streams of income.

For some of us, we keep our side hustles a secret because we fear our 9-5 may have issues with it. And for some people, we are blessed to work at jobs where the managers do not feel threatened by our side gigs so we can speak freely about it.

No matter what, although we should have the autonomy to talk about our side hustles if we want to at work (I mean it is an extension of us and makes us the unique person that we are), sometimes we just can’t.

If you have a side hustle (or plan on getting one), here are our thoughts on when you should tell your boss about your side hustle, and when you shouldn’t.

When You Should Tell

You feel your 9-5 wouldn’t feel threatened by your outside gig

Your boss values you as an employee and respects the fact that you have passions outside of your 9-5. They understand that trying to dictate what you do outside of your 9-5 will make you miserable and will cause negative energy.

You know it will get back to them

Sometimes depending on what your side hustle is, it may intertwine with your 9-5. If your side hustle is in the same industry as your 9-5, you may have the same network, and those networks may collide. In this case, it’s no point in keeping what you do on the side a secret.

You decide to do what you want because you’re poppin’

As an employee, you know that your work ethic is bomb, and that what you do outside of your 9-5 will not interfere. You do not feel that your job will be threatened, and you don’t have the time (or energy) to purposely withhold information about yourself and your interests.

When You Shouldn’t Tell

You’re confident that your side hustle doesn’t affect your work

You know that your side hustle won’t interfere at all with your 9-5 and that you will never spend time working on it at work. In this case, you don’t feel the need to discuss something that will never affect what you do from 9-5.

You know your boss will be threatened by it

Some of us have bosses that are easily threatened and we already know if they knew about our side hustle, they would make a big deal out of it. These same bosses will probably use our side hustle as the reason behind any slipups or mistakes (big or small) that we make at work. Because of this, we know we should probably keep our side hustles on the DL so that our boss can’t use it against us.

What are your thoughts on sharing your side hustle with your boss? Let us know below!